Arrangement in breathing apparatus



' 1968 o. o. A. JOHANNISSON 3,

ARRANGEMENT IN BREATHING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 30, 1964 INVENTOR o2 DAG OLOF ALFRED JOHANNISSON ATTORNEY 5 United States Patent 3,366,133 ARRANGEMENT IN BREATHING APPARATUS Dag Olof Alfred Johannisson, Lidingo, Sweden, assignor to Aga Aktiebolag, Lidingo, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Nov. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 414,616 Claims priority, application Sweden, Dec. 12, 1963, 13,804/ 63 8 Claims. (Cl. 137-102) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Breathing device for preventing loss and providing uniform flow of a supplementary medium. A supply tube is connected at one end to a valve for controlling the flow of gas to and from a point of use and at its other end to a self-expanding bag. Intermediate its ends the supply tube is connected to a branch tube for introduction of a supply medium at the end thereof remote from the supply tube. An elongated path reservoir is in communication at one of its ends to the branch tube in the vicinity of the connection of the latter with the supply medium, and the reservoir is in communication at its other end with atmosphere.

BackgroundField of the invention This invention relates to breathing apparatus of the type which may be used for narcosis, artificial respiration, etc.; and more particularly it relates to such an apparatus with a reservoir for temporarily storing surplus supplementary medium.

Backgr0und-Descripti0n 0f the prior art In breathing apparatus of this type it may be necessary to supply a supplementary medium, which may be oxygen, or, in narcosis apparatus, a narcotic medium. In many cases, it is desirable to know with good accuracy the quantity of supplementary medium supplied to the patient. In a known device for supplying a supplementary medium, described in US. Patent No. 3,256,876, the medium is delivered to the apparatus only during the inhalation phase; during the exhalation phase, the medium flows out into the surrounding air and is lost. This leads to an uncertainty with regard to the amount of supplementary medium supplied to the breathing organs of the patient. It is also known to supply the supplementary medium to a reservoir connected to the breathing apparatus and having a volume of the same order as one inhalation. In this arrangement, however, the supplementary medium mixes comparatively rapidly with the entire quantity of air stored in the reservoir, which leads to difiiculties if it is desired to increase or decrease the dosage of the supplementary medium relatively quickly.

Another known device (U.S. Patent 3,200,818) for supplying a supplementary medium is provided with a closed reservoir connected to it, such as a rubber bag. Such a reservoir must be provided with a safety valve which opens and lets out the excess supplementary medium. If artificial respiration is performed by compressed of the rubber bag, the safety valve must first be closed. If the amount of gas supplied according to the dosage is insufficient, an inhalation valve must also be provided, so that the patient is not deprived of breathing gas.

Summary of the invention A purpose of the present invention is to provide a breathing apparatus which overcomes the disadvantages of previous breathing apparatus known heretofore and 3,3h6,l33 Patented Jan. 30, 1968 which prevents loss and assures uniform flow of the supplementary medium.

According to the present invention there is provided a breathing apparatus having a supply tube connected at one end to a valve for controlling flow of fluid to and from the point of use and having a self-expanding bag at its other end. Intermediate its ends the supply tube is connected to a branch tube for introducing the supplementary medium. The branch tube has at one end a means for introducing the supplementary medium, and the device further includes an elongated-type reservoir having openings at both ends, one of the openings being connected to the branch tube in the vicinity of the latter adjacent to the means for introducing the supplementary medium, and the other opening of the reservoir being connected to atmosphere.

Brief description of the drawings There follows a detailed description together with accompanying drawings which describe and illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention. However, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of numerous modifications and variations apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2' illustrates a modification of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.

FIG. 1 shows a breathing apparatus during the inhalation phase. A valve chamber 19 is provided with a connecting tube 11 adapted for connection to the breathing organs of the patient and with an exhalation tube 12 as well as a supply tube 13. Provided in the chamber 10 is a valve disc 14 which, in the inhalation position shown, rests on a seat formed by the portion of the exhalation tube 12 extending into the chamber. The tube 13 is continued by a flexible tube 15 leading to a bag 16. The latter may be of the self-expanding type and may be used for artificial respiration if the patient does not breathe spontaneously. Connected to the portion of the tube 13 proximate the valve chamber 16 is a branch tube 17, the orifice of which in the tube 13 is covered by a non-return valve 18. The orifice of the exhalation tube 12 is similarly covered by a non-return valve 19. A flexible tube 20 leads from the branch tube 17 through a vaporizer 21 for ether or some other narcotic to an angular tube 22, which has, in the portion thereof proximate to branch 17, a connecting means for connecting a source of supplementary medium (such as oxygen or the like) to the branch tube in the form of a supply aperture 23. The tube 22 leads to a reservoir 24, of which the tube 22 forms part. The reservoir 24 is subdivided by the partition 25 so as to make it have a channel-like or elongated form, which is more marked the smaller is the extension of the reservoir in the direction normal to the plane of the figure.

FIG. 1 shows the inhalation position, in which the paths of flow have been indicated by arrows. The valve disc 14 admits gas from the tube 13 and the non-return valve 18 is open. Gas is sucked in through the movement of the inhalation from the reservoir 24 through the vaporizer 21 and the tube 20 to the breathing organs and addition of the supplementary medium takes place through the aperture 23 as well as in the vaporizer 21 when the gas flows through it.

In exhalation, the valve disc 14 moves to the right and blocks the supply tube 13 and exhalation takes place through the tube 12 and the non-return valve 19, which is now open. The non-return valve 18 is closed, unless the bag 16 is partially emptied, in which case a filling up of the self-expanding bag 16 takes place. If the bag is full,

there is no flow through the tube 20 nor through the vaporizer 21 but the supplementary medium delivered through the aperture 23 now instead flows to the reservoir 24. If the volume of the latter is larger than that of an inhalation, practically no amount of supplementary medium will flow out from the reservoir 24 but the medium will remain therein.

In artificial respiration, the valve disc 14 serves as a non-return valve for the tube 13 when gas is sucked in t the bag 16. It also serves as a lock for the valve 19 when an overpressure is created in the bag 16 upon compress1on.

FIG. 2 shows a modified embodiment, in which the parts shown in FIG. 1 above the branch tube 17 are of the same construction and have been partly left out. The elements shown have the same reference numbers but are now shown in the exhalation position. The branch tube 17 connects with a flexible tube 26 serving as a reservoir and having the same function as the reservoir 24 of FIG. 1. To this end, the tube 26 is made of sufficient length to contain a volume corresponding to an inhalation or more. A supply tube 27 for a supplementary medium extends into the tube 26 and has a connecting means, for connecting a source of supplementary medium to the branch tube, in the form of a free orifice at its end closest to valve 18. The supply tube 27 extends into the proximal portion of the reservoir thus formed. The function of this arrangement corresponds with what was explained in connection with FIG. 1.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in great detail with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it should be apparent that the invention is capable of numerous modifications and variations ontirely within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A breathing apparatus comprising: a connecting tube for conducting gas to and from a point of use, an exhalation tube and a supply tube, an inhalation/exhalation control valve means for controlling the flow of gas between the connecting tube and the other two said tubes, a self-expanding bag connected to said supply tube, a branch tube connected to said supply tube, a connecting means in said branch tube for connecting a source of supplementary medium to the branch tube and a reservoir formed as an elongated path provided with two end openings, one of which is connected to said branch tube at the portion of the latter nearest the said connecting means and the other one of which openings is connected with the surrounding air.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said reservoir is in the form of a container subdivided by partitions in the manner of a labyrinth.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said reservoir is of tubular form.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said reservoir has a volume larger than the volume of an inhalation.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said reservoir is of tubular form.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said reservoir is formed as a container subdivided by partitions in the manner of a labyrinth.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 further comprising a vaporizer for supplying some narcotic to the gas to be inhaled and said vaporizer being connected with the branch tube between the connection of the reservoir and the branch tube and the connection point of the supply tube and the branch tube.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a vaporizer for supplying some narcotic to the gas to be inhaled and said vaporizer being connected with the branch tube between the connection of the reservoir and the branch tube and the connection point of the supply tube and the branch tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,077,191 2/1963 Stanton l28188 3,200,818 8/1965 Johannisson l28202 3,256,876 6/1966 Elam 128l88 M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner.

W. CLINE, Assistant Examiner. 

